M II A II R II K
Senior Member
The CityRail Concept: Real Regional Rail for the GTA
Read More: http://transitfutures.blogspot.ca/2012/07/cityrail-concept-real-regional-rail-for.html
The introduction of genuine regional rail in the GTA would be the most revolutionary transit improvement in the region since the opening of the original subway in 1954. Toronto woefully underuses its comprehensive network of rail corridors connecting all of its suburbs with the central city and with each other. Right now, most corridors see about a dozen mammoth trains a day shuttling commuters from vast parking fields to downtown office buildings. Regional rail is an entirely different type of service in the same corridors, more akin to a subway or other rapid transit line than to locomotive-hauled GO bi-levels. There are several key characteristics that define regional rail: frequent service all day and every day; full fare integration and seamless connections with local transit; and electrified multiple unit trains that allow fast acceleration and frequent stops.
- Genuine regional rail will not occur as a result of piecemeal improvement of existing GO service. It must be developed through a comprehensive plan that guides all of the improvements required to achieve a desired standard of service: the CityRail concept. GO currently adds trains as demand requires and as freight railways permit. This is fine for a commuter service, but it’s not how rapid transit works. Imagine if the TTC cut back service on the subway to every half hour on Sundays because the trains weren’t running full. CityRail establishes the goal of real rapid transit service throughout the GTA and describes the necessary infrastructure improvements that will be required to achieve it. This clear final product makes the promotion of the concept much easier for transit agencies, both to the general public and to higher levels of government.
• CityRail would have trains at least every 15 minutes from morning until late night every day, including weekends, so that riders can go to a station without consulting a schedule and know that a train will arrive shortly. This allows the system to be used as a rapid transit backbone in both Toronto and the 905 suburban municipalities.
• CityRail services would have fully integrated fares with local transit service. Riders would transfer to and from CityRail as seamlessly as they currently do between TTC subways and buses. Fares would be the same for a given trip regardless of the mode chosen. Local transit routes would be routed into regional rail stations as they currently are to subway stations.
• CityRail trains would be operated with electric multiple units that produce no air emissions and accelerate far more rapidly than existing GO Trains, permitting frequent rapid-transit-style stops without longer travel times than GO services.
- The first phase of CityRail would involve the existing GO corridors. There are multiple additional corridors that could greatly benefit from CityRail service, including one to Bolton through Woodbridge, to North Pickering through Agincourt, and to Brampton through Meadowvale. The North Toronto corridor through Summerhill Station would also be very useful for passengers not destined to the downtown core. A potential enhancement of the CityRail concept would include short diversions from existing corridors to serve major destinations. For example, CityRail could leave the Milton line at Cooksville, run up Hurontario to Mississauga City Centre and from there west along the 403 to re-join the existing corridor. Pearson Airport could also benefit from a diversion of the Georgetown Line, which could be shared with other operators including VIA and a premium Airport Express service.
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Read More: http://transitfutures.blogspot.ca/2012/07/cityrail-concept-real-regional-rail-for.html
The introduction of genuine regional rail in the GTA would be the most revolutionary transit improvement in the region since the opening of the original subway in 1954. Toronto woefully underuses its comprehensive network of rail corridors connecting all of its suburbs with the central city and with each other. Right now, most corridors see about a dozen mammoth trains a day shuttling commuters from vast parking fields to downtown office buildings. Regional rail is an entirely different type of service in the same corridors, more akin to a subway or other rapid transit line than to locomotive-hauled GO bi-levels. There are several key characteristics that define regional rail: frequent service all day and every day; full fare integration and seamless connections with local transit; and electrified multiple unit trains that allow fast acceleration and frequent stops.
- Genuine regional rail will not occur as a result of piecemeal improvement of existing GO service. It must be developed through a comprehensive plan that guides all of the improvements required to achieve a desired standard of service: the CityRail concept. GO currently adds trains as demand requires and as freight railways permit. This is fine for a commuter service, but it’s not how rapid transit works. Imagine if the TTC cut back service on the subway to every half hour on Sundays because the trains weren’t running full. CityRail establishes the goal of real rapid transit service throughout the GTA and describes the necessary infrastructure improvements that will be required to achieve it. This clear final product makes the promotion of the concept much easier for transit agencies, both to the general public and to higher levels of government.
• CityRail would have trains at least every 15 minutes from morning until late night every day, including weekends, so that riders can go to a station without consulting a schedule and know that a train will arrive shortly. This allows the system to be used as a rapid transit backbone in both Toronto and the 905 suburban municipalities.
• CityRail services would have fully integrated fares with local transit service. Riders would transfer to and from CityRail as seamlessly as they currently do between TTC subways and buses. Fares would be the same for a given trip regardless of the mode chosen. Local transit routes would be routed into regional rail stations as they currently are to subway stations.
• CityRail trains would be operated with electric multiple units that produce no air emissions and accelerate far more rapidly than existing GO Trains, permitting frequent rapid-transit-style stops without longer travel times than GO services.
- The first phase of CityRail would involve the existing GO corridors. There are multiple additional corridors that could greatly benefit from CityRail service, including one to Bolton through Woodbridge, to North Pickering through Agincourt, and to Brampton through Meadowvale. The North Toronto corridor through Summerhill Station would also be very useful for passengers not destined to the downtown core. A potential enhancement of the CityRail concept would include short diversions from existing corridors to serve major destinations. For example, CityRail could leave the Milton line at Cooksville, run up Hurontario to Mississauga City Centre and from there west along the 403 to re-join the existing corridor. Pearson Airport could also benefit from a diversion of the Georgetown Line, which could be shared with other operators including VIA and a premium Airport Express service.
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